Sorrow will make you desperate, searching for answers and looking for solace in the darkest of places. The Philippou brothers’ second full-length feature film, “Bring Her Back,” is the unrelenting, unforgiving sister of 2022’s “Talk To Me.” Whatever dial that resigned the disturbing physicality within their first film to its third act was lifted or even smashed to pieces. What you ultimately come to find is that there are people in the world with desperation as their compass, waiting to throw any morality away at the expense of innocent people. In surrendering to things they don’t quite understand, the main characters who exist within the maelstrom of the places the Philippou brothers take us only assure their demise.
Both films feature a world where characters throw themselves into the realm of unexplained, macabre supernatural tools. With the twin brothers’ first film, an embalmed ceramic hand was the center of what would be a possession TikTok challenge gone wrong. In “Bring Her Back,” it’s a VHS tape of Russian origin that contains a murder and a ritual that is supposed to revive the soul of a loved one. There have been many versions of horror films in the past where a journey is undertaken to find the origins of a cursed maguffin. Characters would have found a lone expert in the town, or perhaps had an extensive scene where they searched the internet and came across information. However, the writing duo of Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman reinforces a story that continues the twin brothers’ streak of not giving the audience an easy out, with an origin of evil. Instead, it already exists when you enter the story and is not overexplained to the point where the mystery is no longer enthralling to discover.
“Bring Her Back” / Photo Credit: A24
Andy (Billy Barratt) lives at home with his younger step-sister, Piper (Sora Wong), who is visually impaired. He acts as her protector, as some of the kids at school are jerks and aren’t as understanding of her condition. Unfortunately, they come home one day and find their father has suddenly passed away. Andy is 17, so he can’t take care of Piper on his own. That’s where their social worker, Sandy (Sally-Anne Upton), suggests they go to the home of a former counselor, Laura (portrayed with an entertainingly devilish performance by Sally Hawkins). She seems nice, albeit a little bit more caring towards Piper than her older brother. Laura, too, has gone through losing a loved one when her daughter, Cathy (Mischa Heywood), died due to an accidental drowning in her home pool. In a perfect world, these three would come together and go on a journey where the storm clouds dissipate and things get sunnier together.
But “Bring Her Back” is not that type of film. It’s not here to reward, only to punish. Laura already has a foster child named Oliver (Jonah Wren Phillips), who doesn’t speak, has an odd scar around his eye, and exhibits unusual behaviors, such as standing in the empty pool holding a housecat. He’s also prone to these violent outbursts (with the first one being extremely shocking), which is why Laura locks him up when she leaves the house. There’s something wrong with all of this, and it is at the core of why Laura hides her benevolence for a more nefarious plan. Maybe there’s a possibility of “bringing back” the deceased daughter she misses incessantly, but that is going to entail a lot of manipulation and deceit for Laura to get what she wants.
“Bring Her Back” / Photo Credit: A24
The film provides Hawkins with a platform to take the story and run with it. A notable dichotomy exists within Laura’s character. Having previously worked with children from a variety of tough backgrounds, she knows what buttons to push and emotions to tap into. This comes into conflict the most with Andy, who is experiencing a profound amount of PTSD, having to be the person who found his father deceased (and another family secret he keeps from Piper).. He is trapped in a cycle of reliving that moment, and Laura is more than happy to pour gasoline on that emotional fire. In the few instances we see Laura away from the children, she is distraught, disheveled, and completely overcome with mournfulness.
It may come off as mean-spirited because the beatings continue, and the morale doesn’t improve, especially for Andy. Piper is shielded mainly from things because the film utilizes her visual impairment as a device to reveal something more profound about her and her older brother’s relationship. The living space of “Bring Her Back” is completely devoured by a suffocating black mold quite early and doesn’t let up. It’s brash in its depiction of how far a person will go to gain some relief from emotional pain (almost like the “drug” metaphor in “Talk To Me.”) Cornel Wilczek’s score knows when to invoke a feeling of danger while taking brief moments to elevate the melecholny within all of the characters to the surface. Aaron McLisky focuses on the ghastly, violent occurrences, which only become more plentiful as Laura’s character feels things slipping away from her.
If “Talk To Me” is a twisted, layered spin on a teenage coming-of-age story marked by wanting, then “Bring Her Back” is the snarling beast. Grief is never on the exact timetable of healing, and if it’s in the wrong hands, it’ll explode and incinerate everything within its radius.
